CarDekho parent Girnar Soft enters the auto insurance vertical

CarDekho’s parent Girnar Soft has received a licence from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) to launch an auto insurance vertical. The vertical named as ‘Girnar Insurance Brokers’ will provide insurance buying, locate cashless services garages, settle claims and offer documentation to car owners.

Girnar Insurance Brokers will be launching an app that will understand the risk profile of a user and advise them on buying a policy. The company has tech integrations with partner insurance companies such as Iffco Tokio General Insurance, HDFC Ergo, Royal Sundaram, Universal Sompo and New India General Assurance to make customized policies and will enable an instant purchase.

The company said it will use proprietary systems to reduce the turnaround time in claims settlement from 5-7 days to 2-3 days. It also has a 24/7 helpdesk to explain insurance parameters and select add-on services through the app. Insurance buyers can also call for help on claim settlement.

The company will be competing against Times Internet’s ETisnure, Policybazaar and Easy Policy.

Lending platform: The company said that the launch of digital insurance platform was another step to create a complete car ecosystem in the India. Note that in August last year, Girnar Soft launched lending platform and tied up with lenders such as HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Tata Capital and Mahindra Finance. Through this, potential buyers can inquire about loan financing for a pre-inspected car with a dealer and check for eligibility with different buyers.

Funding: In March, Girnar Soft, which also owns Gaadi and Zigwheels, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Google Capital and participation from existing investor Hillhouse Capital. Prior to this, it raised funding from HDFC Bank shortly after raising Series B funding worth $50 million from Hillhouse Capital, Tybourne Capital, Sequoia and Ratan Tata. It also raised a Series A funding worth $15 million from Sequoia Capital in November 2013.